Paris, May 9, 2016 – Global Hospitality Leader, AccorHotels, has announced the appointment of Thibault Viort as the Group's first Chief Disruption and Growth Officer, effective immediately. With the main goal to keep up with the fast-moving consumer market, the new C-level position will complement AccorHotels' agility in acquiring new business.
In this role, Viort's main objectives will be:
- Track down new growth opportunities both internally and externally, in order to foster the emergence of new entrepreneurs
- Oversee investments and/or acquisitions in emerging activities
- Emphasize interactions with start-ups that re-invent the overall sector
"As part of our transformation journey, we are implementing new streams of activity to discover new business opportunities that create value and enhance creativity. I am very proud that Thibault has agreed to join us. His enthusiasm and experience as a passionate entrepreneur, as much as his willingness to share and offer a fresh look, will help us generate new approaches to our businesses," said Sébastien Bazin, AccorHotels Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
A graduate of France's acclaimed engineering school, EPITA, Viort is a serial entrepreneur who built up his first business at age 22. With a proven capacity to track down new trends, he created Facebook's very first online game (Is Cool Entertainment) in 2008, anticipated the momentum taken by Big Data with the creation of Ysance in 2005, and shook up the tourism industry in 2009 with the creation of Wipolo and the transformation of City Vox.
At age 42 and for more than twenty years, Thibault has been sharing his experience through teaching classes at the Ecole Polytechnique and consulting for many start-ups, including Openclassrooms and Codingame.
